Undeclared
by mllezeau
Summary: While working late one night, Ana and Christian share a passionate kiss. What happens after they kiss?
1. Chapter 1

UNDECLARED

All credit to ELJ.

APOV

I take one last look in the mirror and take a moment to smooth out the little black dress that I decided to wear tonight. It was a last minute purchase. I had decided to wear something that was already in my closet, but when I walked by the little boutique and saw this short, lace number, I had to try it on. It fits me perfectly. I turn in front of the mirror and let out a giggle. I'm even happy with how the dress makes my ass look.

I slide on my red stilettos and I was ready to go.

Tonight is going to be the night.

I've waited long enough to tell this man how I feel about him, and to finally hear how he feels about me. We've known each other for three years now. We met through his sister. She and I have been friends since she did her one semester at WSU Seattle.

Mia Grey comes from a rich family, and they are always having parties. That's how I met her brother, Christian. I noticed him immediately that first night even though he looked right through me when we were first introduced. I can still remember what he had on that night even though I can't remember what the hell the party was for.

He had on a gray suit, no tie, and his shirt had the top two buttons undone. Even through the white shirt, I appreciated the width of his shoulders and his tapered waist. He had the most intense pair of gray eyes I've ever seen. I swore he saw my soul when he finally looked at me, but that only lasted a second before the bimbo he was with pulled him away. He was the finest specimen of the male form that I've ever seen, and I've been infatuated with him ever since.

Unfortunately, he barely noticed me. He had some skinny chick, whose name I can't even remember, wrapped around him the entire night.

I spent the rest of that first night watching him. The way he laughed. The way he drank his champagne. The way he had his hand on the small of that bimbo's back whenever they were walking somewhere. I felt such a pang of envy because I wanted to be that bimbo. Well, not a bimbo. I wanted to be the woman on his arm.

Mia invited me to several more family events that first year of our friendship. Each time we would lock eyes for a brief moment, he'd be polite but dismissive of me. Each time he'd have a different bimbo. Each time I would think of all the different ways I could torture his dates for being lucky enough to with him, while I was forced to watch from afar.

Things finally changed between six months ago when I graduated college. I was offered a job at SIP, which GEH had just acquired. Due to the restructuring of SIP, Christian Grey had to spend a lot of time there before SIP could be moved to GEH.

Because I have the worst luck, the position that I was hired for was eliminated when they had to fire the editor who hired me. I called and cried to Mia one night, and the next day, Christian found me and said he could use an assistant while Andrea Parker was on medical leave. He promised he would find me something in GEH by the time Andrea came back.

Over the next few months, we learned that not only did we work well together, we also developed a bit of a friendship. I've never worked as a personal assistant before and it's amazing what you can learn from a person. I know how he takes his coffee. His favorite brand of clothes. His size. The people he has little patience for. His net worth, and it's staggering. His favorite place to take dates. His preferred drink, cologne and brand of suit. I also know that he is never with the same woman for longer than thirty days. That's his limit. They don't always last that long. Only a lucky few do.

The events that led up to this night started six months ago. It's taken us six long months to get here since that night.

 **SIX MONTHS AGO**

" _So, you'll be gone for one week? What the hell am I supposed to do without an assistant for an entire week? I should have had you train a temp this week. Fuck! It's too late now," my boss says while running a hand through his hair in frustration._

" _Seeing as though it's Friday at six pm, it's definitely too late," I remind him._

" _Where are you going again? I told you, you could use the company jet. I don't feel right about you going off by yourself and flying commercial." That's another thing about my boss that I've learned. He is the most protective and giving human being I've ever met. Hands down. He's totally selfless and he doesn't even know it._

" _Thanks, but my flight has been booked. I'll be ok. I've flown by myself before. I'm a big girl," I say with a bit of sarcasm. I even do that thing he hates and rolls my eyes at him._

" _Do that again and I'll fire your ass," he threatens._

" _You threaten me with that once a week. I'm not scared of you. You act tough, but you're a big softie." I realize what I said a little too late. He gives me this mischievous grin that makes my heart rate accelerate._

" _Definitely not soft. I'd show you, but I wouldn't want you to file a sexual harassment suit on me. Don't want to make you part of the me too movement."_

 _I take a paperclip and throw it at him._

" _Not funny, Grey!"_

" _Sorry, my little activist," he chuckles at me and I know he's remembering that fact that Mia and I both went to the Women's March. I ignore him._

" _Trust me, I don't want to see because I'm sure it's not that impressive. I know I've seen bigger and better." I finally get up and start packing up my bag to go home. I have an eight am flight and I still need to go home and pack._

 _With my back turned to him, I didn't realize he was standing right behind me. I slam into him as soon as I turned around. Before I can go around him, he pulls me to him and traps me between his body and his desk._

" _I don't think you have seen bigger and better, Ms. Steele,. In fact, I don't remember the last time you even had a date," he says against my ear. I immediately start to feel moisture between my legs. I try to push him away, but he won't budge._

" _There are cameras in this office. When I sue your ass, my lawyer will get the footage during discovery," I threaten him._

" _Bring it on. My lawyers are better than your lawyers."_

" _Since I have no lawyers and you have about a dozen, you're probably right."_

 _He doesn't say anything else, but he continues to hold me against his body. His very hard body. Another tidbit I know about him is that he works out five days per week._

" _What are you doing, Christian?" I ask him. He holds my gaze and pushes a stray piece of hair behind him ears. That's the moment that I fell in love with him. That's the moment that the crush bloomed into an all consuming love. Before that night, I was in lust, but that small thing of putting a stray piece of hair behind my ear while gazing into my eyes made me a goner for this man._

" _I'm holding you. Keeping you here. I don't want you to go to Savannah to visit your mother. Does that make me selfish?" He asks._

" _Yes."_

 _He gives me that smile again. I try to push away from him, but he only holds me closer. He holds my gaze again before slowly lowering his head. When he gets as close to my mouth as possible, he stops waiting for me to acquiesce. I give a quick nod before he brings his mouth to mine._

 _I've thought about this for the past three months that we've worked so closely together. I've dreamt about this. I've dreamt of his mouth on mine. I've fantasized about how his lips would feel, how he would taste, but my fantasies aren't even close._

 _The kiss is not gentle. He immediately puts pressure on my lips, forcing them open. As soon as I give him entry, his tongue takes over my mouth. His taste is one I can't describe. It's clean and crisp and I can't get enough of him. He pulls me closer and he puts his hands on my ass, grinding his erection into me. I let out a soft moan as I continue to lose myself in this man._

 _I lift up my arms and stick both hands in his hair, running my hands through it and making it a worse mess than it usually is. I have my hands in his hair and he has his hands on my ass, as we continue to devour each other with our mouths._

 _The kiss goes on until we are brought back to reality by the ringing office phone. I jump out of his arms, and he takes a step back from me, running his hand through his hair again._

 _We just stand there staring at each other, ignoring the ringing phone._

 _I grab my bag and throw it over my shoulder._

" _I gotta go," I say quickly, heading towards the door._

 _He catches up with me and grabs my arm, spinning me around to face him. He pulls me into his arms again and rests his forehead on mine._

" _I'm not sorry. I've wanted to do that for months now," he confesses._

" _Me too."_

" _Let's talk when you get back from Georgia."_

" _Talk about what? Work?" I ask. Please say you don't want to talk about work._

" _Fuck work. Talk about us."_

" _Ok," I quickly agree._

" _Have a safe flight. I'll have Prescott pick you up tomorrow at six to take you to the airport since you won't use my jet."_

" _That's not necessary. I can call a cab."_

 _He gives me a chaste kiss on the lips._

" _Prescott will pick you up. Be safe."_

I left after that and spent the next week with mom and Bob. Christian and I don't communicate the entire time I'm away, but he's never far from my thoughts. Even though I had a wonderful time with Carla, my mind belonged to Christian that entire week.

I arrive back to Seattle on Sunday and by Monday morning, I'm eager to get to work. I texted him as soon as I arrived, letting him know I'd landed. The only response I got back was a thumb's up emoji, which was not like him at all.

Unfortunately, I had a conference that I had signed up for when SIP initially hired me. It's an editor's conference. One I'm excited about and didn't want to miss.

I didn't get back to GEH until four pm on Monday. I made sure to wear a fitted pencil skirt and a tapered light blue shirt. I looked both sexy and professional for the talk I was going to have with Christian Grey. By the time we both leave her tonight, I'm hoping we leave together, holding hands.

When I opened his office door, I was shocked by what I found, and I realized then and there that we would not be leaving together.

There he was. The man who kissed me just over a week ago. Now he had another woman in his arms as he gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.

He looks up when he hears the door. Our eyes meet, and I know he sees the anger and the confusion in my eyes. He clears his throat before beginning to speak. Another thing I learned about Christian Grey is clearing his throat only means one thing. It means he's nervous.

I stand there, hold his gaze and waiting for an explanation. I don't get one.

"Anastasia, welcome back," he says formally. "I want you to meet Bambi Montgomery, my girlfriend." I think a slap in the face would have hurt less. I involuntarily take a step back, and stand there for a few seconds totally speechless.

I finally catch myself and extend my hand to Bambi.

"It's a pleasure, Bambi. I am Mr. Grey's personal assistant." I feel him flinch beside me. I've never called him Mr. Grey.

"Nice to meet you as well. Christian and I were just discussing the launch party on Saturday." The launch party for his latest acquisition. The one I thought would be our coming out party as a couple.

"Yes, I'm looking forward to that as well. We all worked hard on that acquisition. How did you two meet, if you don't mind my asking?" Christian clears his throat again and runs his hand through his hair. The bastard is definitely nervous.

"We actually met last month at the Governor's ball, but I never heard from him. He called me out of the blue last week." She giggles. The bitch actually giggles. I look at her. She's attractive. She's tall with long dark hair. She has brown eyes, and clear skin. She's dressed professionally in an expensive looking gray pantsuit.

"Well you must have been on his mind this entire time then. How sweet." I say with fake sweetness and a fake smile. I look over at Christian, who is now completely red in the face. I look away from him and turn back to Bambi.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. I've been away for a week and need to catch up on some work. Isn't it amazing how much stuff can go on in a week, Mr. Grey? You think you're coming back to one thing, but in actuality you come back to the complete opposite." I don't wait for him to answer. I simply walk out of his office and close the door. Once I take my seat at Andrea's old desk, I look up Bambi Montgomery. With a name like that, I expected her to be a porn star, but Ms. Montgomery is from old money. She's a lawyer who works for the Governor. No wonder they met at that fucking ball. We'll see if you're still here in thirty days, bitch!

I lay my head on my desk and resist the urge to bang it repeatedly on the damn thing.

"Get a hold of yourself, Ana," I say out loud.

It was just one kiss. Thank goodness that's all it was. He's already screwed me over and it was only a kiss. What if things had gone further? God, I was an idiot for even contemplating being with this man. A man whose relationship max out at thirty days. Is this what I wanted? To be left a broken hearted mess after just one month? Absolutely not! I was worth so much more than that, and I was going to get it. Just not with that Grey asshole. Fuck him! He can live his lonely pathetic life by himself. That kiss wasn't even all that good. That's a total lie, but one I'll tell myself over and over again until I believe it.

Just as I open up my work email, asshole and Bambi walk out of his office. He walks her to the elevator and gives her a kiss on the cheek before she leaves.

As soon as the elevator door closes, I turn back to my email, ignoring him completely.

"Anastasia?"

"Yes, Mr. Grey?" I respond professionally.

"Can I talk to you in my office for a minute, please?"

"Yes, sir." I get up and grab my iPad, expecting him to talk business.

He takes his seat behind his desk. I stand in front of his desk, waiting for him to give me a rundown of his day. He clears his throat before he begins talking.

"I know that must have been uncomfortable. I was expecting you a little later so I could explain Bambi to you in private," he stammers. Once he finishes talking, he clears his throat three times.

"There is nothing to explain, Mr. Grey. Your private life is your business. Is there anything else?"

"Stop with this Mr. Grey bullshit. I'm sorry. I care about you and I'd only end up hurting you. That kiss shouldn't have happened."

"I couldn't agree more, Mr. Grey. That kiss was the biggest mistake of my life. Do me a favor and never bring it up again. If we're done here, I have work to do." I don't wait for an answer. I just turn my back on him and walk out.

The rest of the week is just awkward. Where we used to have a friendly, easy going relationship, things are now strained. I feel so betrayed by him when I shouldn't. But maybe I should. He led me to believe that we had a future, and then as soon as I leave he seeks out another woman. Why? What led him to do that?

I guess the answer is simple. He decided he'd be a fool to be with me. I was nothing, and Bambi is on the same playing field as him. Rich family. Lawyer. Connected. Three things I'm not. Fuck that and fuck him. I'm young, smart, relatively attractive and there is no way I'm going to allow Grey or any man to fuck with me and my self esteem. Anastasia Steele will not wallow for any man!

I say a small prayer in gratitude for dodging that bullet. Who needs all that shit? I much prefer the simple life, and not the complications that someone like him would bring down on me.

By Wednesday, I receive a call from Charlie Becker, an executive I met at the conference. We exchanged business cards for networking purposes. In my simple mind, I thought that since I was about to start a relationship with my boss, I'd have to quit. Charlie is an executive at Sapphire Publishing and was a complete gentleman. He told me that he might have something that would be a good fit for me, and we exchanged business cards.

When he called me on Wednesday, he said that he gave my information to a hiring manager, who would be in touch with me soon.

I almost told him no since the romance I was counting on will never happen, but I thought better of it. Editing is what I want to do, not be an assistant to a two timing snake like Christian Grey. I told Charlie how excited I was at the opportunity to work for Sapphire.

He then floored me by asking to take me to lunch the next day. Charlie was tall and broad shouldered. He had green eyes and his hair was thinning a bit, but he was still good looking. And he had kind eyes. Unlike that gray eyed bastard I worked for.

Even though he didn't have crazy red hair, or piercing gray eyes, I agreed. If Grey can move on, so can I. Not that there's anything to move on from. It was just one kiss. One earth shattering kiss. One kiss that had me so fucked up.

I was locking up my workstation the next day to go meet Charlie for lunch. We had agreed on a small bistro down the street from GEH.

Just as I was standing up to leave, Grey walks out of his office, looking a like a runway model in a dark blue suit.

We both stand awkwardly in front of the elevator. I've avoided all non-work related conversation with him since the Bambi fiasco, and I'm not about to change that now.

When we step inside the elevator, I feel this pull. I almost take a step towards him, but I don't. I hear him clear his throat and watch as he adjusts his tie. I hope you choke, asshole.

He looks at me and I feel his gaze darken. I turn my head and look directly at the door.

"Interesting dress you have on. Not your usual office attire," he says. I have on a red wrap around dress with a pair of open toes sandals. It's a bit on the sexy side, but I have a date. Not that he needs to know that.

"This is professional. If you have a problem with it, talk to HR."

"Will you look at me, dammit? You've ignored me all week and I hate it! Us getting involved is not a good idea, Ana. Can't you see that?"

"Oh, I know. I'm looking for a relationship, not a thirty day fling. And it's Ms. Steele to you." Thankfully the elevator opens to the lobby and I quickly walk out in the July heat.

It's only about a five minute walk to the bistro, and Charlie is waiting for me when I arrive. We are quickly led to a private table, and I feel his hand on the small of my back as we follow the hostess to our table. His hand is not unwelcome.

Lunch is lighthearted and fun. I learn that Charlie is from Oregon and is the youngest of five children. We compare childhoods, and I'm shocked to learn that his parents are still together. He pulls out his phone and shows me a family picture taken last Christmas. Everyone is wearing matching sweaters and a Santa hat. It's the cutest and funniest thing I've ever seen.

I'm so caught up on the picture, I don't see the shadow looming over our table.

"Ms. Steele," I hear him say. Unlike how contrite he was in the elevator not too long ago, his voice is not cold and full of venom. I look up and if looks could kill, I'd be dead. He then turns his angry glare to Charlie before turning back to me.

"Mr. Grey," I say back. I move my gaze from him and smile at Charlie.

He clears his throat

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" That's when I look up again and see he has his arm wrapped around Bambi.

"No," is all I say, but he bypasses me.

"Christian Grey. Ms. Steeles' boss. This is my girlfriend, Bambi."

"Charlie Becker. Ana's lunch date."

"And maybe more," I add.

Charlie looks at me and we smile. He shakes hands with Grey and Bambi. I notice that he shakes Charlies hand a little too forcefully and holds on to his hand for a tad bit too long, like he was sending him a message.

"I'd appreciate if you got back to work immediately, Ms. Steele. Since you were gone on your vacation, there's a lot of work that piled up. Maybe you can limit your personal life to after work hours."

I close my eyes and count to ten before I say something that I'd regret. Since I'm trying to get a job where Charlie works, I decide to play nice and not tell him what I really think of him.

"I'm pretty sure I get an hour for lunch. I'll be back on time. Thank you for your concern, Mr. Grey," I say coldly. I decide then to turn towards Charlie and ignore him and his date completely.

Thankfully he gets the hint and they leave but not before Grey gives me the death glare. I glare at him right back. If he thinks he can intimidate me, he's got another thing coming.

It's then that I get an idea.

"Charlie, GEH has a launch party on Saturday. It's at the Ritz Carlton and really fancy. Do you want to be my date?" He eyes light up and he immediately agrees. Once lunch is over, he walks me to GEH, kisses my cheek and promises to call.

I return to my desk, and start typing a company wide email as I was instructed to earlier. Once Mr. Grey approves it, it can be sent. I'm in the middle of my draft when he gets off the elevator and stomps past my desk without a word.

I continue the memo, with details of the new acquisition and how it will affect GEH. I send the draft to him waiting on his approval before sending it out.

"What is this crap, Ms. Steele," he says. He walks angrily towards my desk and dumps the printed memo on my desk.

"It's the memo you requested that I type, Mr. Grey," I say as professionally as I can muster.

"Well, it's garbage. I found two typos and you didn't include the list of new hires. Maybe your head is in the clouds over your balding boyfriend, but I need you to actually do the job I pay you for. Fix this now!"

"Well, it's just a first draft. I would have read it over and fixed the typos. And as for the list of new hires, that's already been sent over by HR. All I have to do is provide the link to the website in the email. I believe HR has already sent it to you, and you've approved it." I say this with as much professionalism as possible. "And as for my boyfriend, his hair might be thinning, but at least he doesn't have a giant pair of fake tits. You might want to tell her to get them checked. They looked kind of lopsided to me. Maybe you should check the person you're with before you comment on mine."

"You better watch your tone, Ms. Steele."

"Or what, Mr. Grey?"

We stare each other down for several seconds before he turns and stomps back to his office without saying a word. The slam of the door is the last thing I hear before I resume my work.

The audacity of that man!

I found the two typos and fixed them. I also included the list of new hires. I triple checked it before sending it to him again. He approves it and I don't see or hear from him again the rest of the day.

* * *

"This is some fancy party, Ana. Just know when you come on board at Sapphire, we don't do it up like this," he says with a wink. I had an interview yesterday, and it went great. Charlie has let it slip that I'd be getting an offer very soon.

"Fine by me. These things can be exhausting." He offers me his arm and we go grab some more champagne.

Mr. Grey is over by the bar talking to Ros and some other executives. I don't miss the fact that Bambi is stuck to him like a cheap suit. When I look his way, our eyes lock briefly before he looks over my entire body. He even licked his lips and pulled on his tie. I look away and talk to my date.

I look up again, and Grey is looking at me. I notice that his eyes linger on my cleavage. He's probably forgotten what a pair of real boobs look like. I purposely chose this dress because it's sexy. It's another red dress. It's fitted at the top, with a flared skirt and is extremely low cut.

He turns and whispers something to Bambi and she laughs. He then turns and looks back at me. I'm sure he saw the anger in my eyes, because he gives me small victorious smile. I grab Charlie's hand and go to the other side of the room, but Grey continued to watch me for the rest of the night. Every time I looked his way, I caught him looking at me.

At one point, I grab Charlie's hand. He looked at me, smiled and kissed my hand. He finally let me hand go when a server came around with champagne, but he then draped one arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. I leaned in and smelled him. He smelled good, but not Christian Grey good.

A few hours later, Charlie leaves my side to use the rest room. I'm looking at my watch, ready to get the hell out of here when I feel him next to me.

"You look beautiful. I can hardly keep my eyes off of you," he says. He doesn't look at me, but he stands next to me.

"Shouldn't you be saying that to your date?"

"You won't give me an inch, will you? I already explained why things have to be the way they are."

"Yes, you have. We both agree the kiss was a mistake. I've moved on, so why do you keep on bringing it up? Are you so arrogant that you think that I have feelings for you or something?"

"Don't you? You're dating Sir Baldilocks to make me jealous. It's working." Good, I think to myself.

"Sir Baldilocks? I never realized you were so petty and childish. I'm dating Charlie because I like him. It's not about you. Why don't you get back to Bambi and leave me alone?"

"And these disgusting displays of hand holding and kissing. Can you be more obvious?" He asks.

"If you had kept your eyes off of me for just a brief moment, you might have missed these so called obvious displays of affection. You think everything is about you, don't you? I really dodged a bullet. Thank you, God," I say as I pretend to look up at the heavens.

I grab another glass of champagne and down in in one gulp.

"You're going to have a killer hangover. You've had too much."

"Not your problem. Charlie will take good care of me tonight. In fact, pretty soon I won't be your problem at all."

"What is that supposed to mean, Ms. Steele?"

"It means I won't be around when Bambi's thirty days are up, and you bring in a brand new bimbo." I think back to that kiss, the feeling of falling in love and having hope and having it all dashed by this man. He had the gall to call another woman, and make her his girlfriend, after he told me he wanted to talk about us. He's the one who flirted and kissed me that night. He told me he didn't want me to go to Georgia. He played with my emotions and continues to do it by flaunting Bambi in my face. And now he has the nerve to act jealous over Charlie?

"Bullshit. You're not going anywhere. You need this job."

"Well, what you fail to understand is that GEH is not the only game in town. I quit!" I don't wait for him to answer. I see Charlie walking towards us, and I just go to him, grab his hand and leave.

He drops me off at home, and I invite him up to make out. We kissed for several minutes before he tells me he better leaves. I ask him to stay, but he says he'd prefer to take things slow, and would love to come pick me up in the morning to take me to breakfast.

As soon as he leaves, I change out of my clothes and go to GEH. It's quiet and the night security just lets me in. I go to my desk and clear out all of my personal belongings, leaving GEH and Christian Grey behind.

After breakfast with Charlie, I drive to Montesano and stay there for the weekend.

He tries to call me, but I ignore him. I've already told him that I quit and I have nothing else to say to him.

By Monday, when he realizes I've cleared out my desk, he sends me a nasty text.

 **How utterly unprofessional of you, Ms. Steele. I hope you're not expecting a good reference from me. Good riddance! Christian Grey.**

I ignore him and block his number.

Thankfully by Tuesday, I had an offer from Sapphire. The money was less, but I'd be away from him, so I accepted and agreed to start the following Monday.

* * *

Things at Sapphire were great, but things with me and Charlie fizzled out after about a month. He said he still had feelings for his ex-girlfriend and wanted to give it another try. I agreed to stay friends since I never had any feelings for him to begin with.

Now, I was only focusing on my career. If I met someone interesting, great. If not, that would be fine too.

I was a junior editor and my boss was a woman who had been with the company for fifteen years. She was a great boss and mentor.

Things could not have been better. Until four months later when we found out Sapphire was bought by another company. I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind when I heard that, but I pushed it aside. He wouldn't, would he? No, of course not. That would be foolish. He already owned SIP.

A day later, all employees were called into the cafeteria to meet the new owner, and I found out my instincts were right. There he stood, arrogant as ever. What I wouldn't give to smack that smirk off his face. He finds me immediately and stares me down. I refuse to be the one to break the gaze. He walks over to me.

"Well, well, well, Ms. Steele. It appears that you won't be able to ignore me anymore. I have big plans for you. It looks like GEH might just be the only game in town."

"You did this to get back at me? To get me under your thumb?" I ask, incredulous.

He looks at me, before putting a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I jump back, not wanting him to get any closer.

"Yes," is all he says before he walks away. He gives a speech and talks about merging Sapphire with SIP and relocating us to the GEH building in the new year. I stand there fuming at the thought of having to work for him again.

He opens the floor up for questions, but I just leave. I don't want to hear anything more from him. I contemplate looking for a job at a publishing company on the east coast, but all of my friends and family were on the west coast. I was not going to let Christian Grey push me out of Washington. Besides, I loved my job at Sapphire. Grey can go fuck himself.

I go back to my desk to work on one of my manuscripts, but after thirty minutes, he approaches my desk and sits on it.

I refuse to look up.

"Are you going to fire me?" I ask without looking at him.

"Now, why would I do that? To get even for the way you just quit on me. I was in a quite a bind for about two weeks after that. That was very unprofessional of you, but no. I'm not going to fire you. I have plans for you. In fact, I have your desk already picked out. Will you look at me, dammit?"

I finally look at into his gray eyes, and all of the feelings I tried to suppress during the past few months just come flooding back.

"Bambi is gone."

"Don't care, but of course she is gone. It's been four months. You've probably had four other Bambis by now."

"Must you always be such a smart ass? There has been no one. What about you and Baldilocks?" I roll my eyes at the name.

"None of your business."

"Everything about you is my business. I already know," he says with a secret smile.

"Know what?"

"That you're not with him. He's back with an ex. I know everything about you, Ms. Steele."

"Well good for you. The only thing I know about you is that you need a new hobby. I also know that I'd rather work at McDonalds than work for you if you're going to be a jerk. Are you going to buy them too? What about Amazon or Starbucks or Microsoft? You're not the biggest fish in the pond, Grey."

"No, I wouldn't buy them. But, I'm not worried about you going to any of those places. Connections and all that."

He then grabs my chin and forces me to look at him.

"I've missed you. You've only gotten more beautiful."

"The feeling is not mutual," I say and look away. I hear him sigh before he clears his throat.

"I made a mistake, Ana. One I regret every damn day since you've been back from Georgia. What I said was true. I didn't pursue things because I was afraid I'd hurt you."

"We've been over this many times, and frankly, this conversation bores me. But, let me remind you how things went because you seem to have a warped sense of reality. You flirted with me, kissed me, told me you were going to miss me and wanted to talk about us as soon as I got back. I was gone one fucking week and walk back into the office to see you in the arms of another woman. A woman who is much better suited for you than I am. Then I find out that you pursued her as soon as my back was turned. Not only that, you tell me our kiss was a mistake and it's better if we never discuss it again. Fine. I accepted that. I found another job. I moved on and got away from you. Now you buy this company. Why? Because you can? Because you want to fuck with me? It's not fair." I take a deep breath after I finish my speech. The last thing I want to do is cry in front of this egomaniac.

"That kiss meant everything. You mean everything. You know my track record, Ana. Thirty days. That's the limit. I didn't want to do that to you, but I know that I never would."

"It's too late, Christian. You hurt me and I'm not going to give you the opportunity to hurt me again."

"I know I did. I was a stupid asshole, but not a moment has gone by without me thinking about you. I've been kicking myself since I saw that look in your eyes when you walked in on me and Bambi. I've lost countless hours of sleep over that look. That look has haunted me since that day. Let me make it up to you. Please."

"How? I'm not looking for a fling. I'm not that type so if that's what you have in mind, there's the door."

"No. Nothing like that. Let's go out on a date. Tonight. I'll take you out and I'll explain things," I look up at him.

"Those words are similar to what you said to me before I left for Georgia. That didn't turn out so well, Christian. You toyed with my emotions and I don't know if I want to give you the chance to do that again."

"Well thank goodness you're no longer calling me Mr. Grey. Nothing like that will happen. I promise. I have a lot of things I want to say to you, but I can't say them here. I have a meeting at the end of the day, but let's meet at Canlis at 8. OK? Give me a chance to make things right. I know I don't deserve it, but I'm asking anyway." I look in his eyes and see he's sincere, so I nod. He breathes a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, baby." I'm taken aback by the endearment, but I say nothing. I actually love it. The feminist in me is not happy with myself right now.

He leans down and gives me a chaste kiss on the mouth. He does it quickly and it takes me by surprise.

"I've thought of nothing else but that mouth and that ass. And those tits which I know aren't fake. I can't wait until tonight." And with that he takes off.

* * *

Canlis Is just about a mile from my apartment. I'd normally walk, but my heels are too high. I'd drive, but I want an excuse to get in the car with Christian after our date. I call a cab and I arrive right on time.

It's October, so I take my coat off and check it at the coat check. I walk inside the main restaurant and tell the hostess that I'm meeting Christian Grey. She tells me he's waiting for me at the bar. I take a deep breath and make my way over there.

I come to a complete stop when I see them at the bar.

It's like fucking déjà vu all over again, and I'm pissed.

Right there at the bar is Christian and fucking Bambi Montgomery. I clench my fists and start to seethe. She gets on her tippy toes and kisses his cheek before he takes her into a hug.

I can't believe that this shit has happened to me again. Did he set me up for this? Of course, he did. He lied to me this afternoon and I fell for it. He just wanted revenge for me quitting on him the way I did. I turn around, and bump into a waiter, causing him to drop his tray of drinks. Everyone stares, and I'm mortified. I look around and I see him mouth oh shit when he sees me. I start running out of the restaurant.

"Ana! Wait! It's not what it looks like," he yells but I quickly run out, leaving my coat behind. I see him running behind me, but because he has to go around the mess on the floor, it slows him down. I dodge into the alley as soon as I get outside.

My chest is heaving and I'm panting like I just ran a marathon. Just as my tears start, I hear a clap of thunder, causing me to jump. I look up just as the sky opens up and rain pours down on me.

I think of how appropriate this feels. All of Seattle is crying right along with me. I stand in the alley, under the heavy rain and let my tears drop. I cry for feeling so stupid as to fall for his pretty words again. I cry for letting myself have hope once again that we could have something together. I cry for losing the relationship I had build up in my head.

I cry because I was such a fool. I quickly wipe my tears. No more. I've let this man play with my emotions for far too long. Enough is enough.

I take off my shoes and start to walk home. I'm so numb that I don't even feel the cold rain falling on me. I don't feel the brisk wind cutting through me. I take the back roads home and enter my building through the back door. Instead of going to the lobby to get on elevator, I take the back stairwell to the third floor and go into the rear door of my apartment.

Like a zombie, I undress. I shiver, but I welcome the coldness. I'm as cold on the inside as I am on the outside. I dry off as best I could with a towel, put on my nasty woman tee shirt and climb into bed.

I lay there for a few minutes before I hear a pounding on my door.

I know who it is. The Ana from just this morning would have opened the door and given him a piece of my mind, but not now. Not today. Maybe tomorrow. Right now, I just want to sleep.

The pounding continues. I secretly hope he hurts his hand, then I feel shame for feeling that way.

"Ana! Open this fucking door right now before I break it down! It's not what you think! Let me explain! Please!" The pounding continues, but I ignore him. I get up and close the door to my bedroom. I still hear the pounding and his demands for me to open the door, but I ignore him. I just close my eyes and fall asleep.

* * *

THE NEXT DAY

I groan when I wake up. My throat feels like a swallowed a handful of nails. I'm totally congested and my stomach feels like it's turned upside down. I cough, but it hurts so bad, I had to stop. I stand up and run to the bathroom. I make it just in time to empty my stomach contents into the toilet.

When I look in the mirror, my head is a bird's nest. My nose is read and my skin is paler than usual. I grab my thermometer. The 101 temperature tells me that I'll be spending the rest of the weekend in bed.

I try to drink some orange juice, but my throat hurts too much. Thankfully, I'm able to fall asleep again.

When I wake up hours later, I think I'm hallucinating. I rub my eyes, but that doesn't help because I still see him.

"Get a grip, Ana," I say to myself. "Crazy is not sexy." I get up to use the bathroom and take my temperature again. My throat feels like it's no fire. I wash my face and brush my teeth.

I'm ready to call the men in the white coats to come and get me when I see him through the mirror. He walks into the bathroom, grabs the thermometer and puts his hand on my forehead. I jump back when I realize that I'm not hallucinating. Christian Grey is in my apartment.

"Before you ask, I got the spare key you gave Mia. It required some explaining, but she finally gave it to me," he says as if that would explain everything.

"Get out," I mutter. That's all I can say with how painful my throat is.

"No. I'm going to stay here and explain, but first it looks like you need a doctor. My mother is on her way." He doesn't say anything else. He just picks me up and puts me back in bed.

"Don't touch me," I manage to say to him. I'd hit him, but I'm too tired.

"We have to talk, but it looks like you can't. Does your throat hurt?"

I don't answer. I just turn my back to him and point to the door.

"Not leaving." There's a knock on the door and a minute later, Grace Grey walks in. After several minutes, she declares that I don't have the flu or strep, just a bad cold. I'm told to drink fluids and some over the counter cold medicine before she leaves for her shift at the hospital.

"I'll run to the pharmacy and get you some NyQuil. I'll have Mrs. Jones make you some soup. I'll be back soon. Try and get some rest." He leans down and kisses my forehead. Being to sick to fight, I simply fall asleep.

I find him sitting on a chair next to my bed, typing something on his laptop. He must have heard me stir because he looks up.

"Welcome back, sleepyhead," he says. He pulls out the thermometer and takes me temperature.

"100. It's gotten better, but not good enough. I'm going to warm up your soup." Before I can respond, he leaves the room and comes back with a steaming bowl of soup. My stomach growls since I don't remember the last time I ate. I don't even know what time it is.

He sets a tray in front of me. I don't recognize the tray so I assume he brought it from home.

"Eat," he commands.

As hungry as I am, I become annoyed. How dare he tell me what to do.

"Not hungry," I say. "Don't want anything from you." I swallow and regret it immediately.

"It's nice and hot and will help with your sore throat. It's lemon chicken orzo soup. Your favorite." He smiles at me and I fight the urge to smile back. It's my favorite soup.

"How did you know?" I ask.

"I know everything about you, Ana. Especially your love for all things lemon flavored. You like lemon in your tea, lemon cake from Starbucks, lemon chicken orzo soup even in the summer time, lemon gelato, lemon meringue pie. Why do you think all of a sudden the GEH kitchen started keeping lemon wedges? For you, Ana. I know I haven't always acted like it, but almost everything I do has been for you."

"Bambi was for me too?" I find the strength to roll my eyes at him.

He clears his throat and runs a hand through his hair.

"I know you giggle when you're nervous and you blush whenever there is too much attention on you. I know how you always bite your bottom lip when you're concentrating. I know how you curse like a truck driver when you get frustrated. I know all of your favorite places to shop online, and I know you have hundreds of romance novels downloaded on your kindle."

I shake my head at him. I'd tell him where to go, but my damn throat won't cooperate. How dare he say something like that to me when he's treated me like shit? He's right about my love for all things lemon flavored, but I refuse to acknowledge it.

"Nope. You're wrong. Take this soup away," I say, pushing the bowl away from me. Damn, it smells good. "You go away, too. Liar." I cross my arms.

"I deserve that, but I'm not leaving. You're sick and I'm going to take care of you."

"I don't need you," I say.

He comes and sits on the edge of the bed and lifts the spoon to my lips.

Like a spoiled child, I purse my lips shut. He continues to try and push it into my mouth, but I swat at the spoon, causing some of it to land on his shirt. He jumps up, grabs a napkin and wipes his shirt. I use that opportunity to push the tray down and hop out of bed. As fast as my sick legs can take me, I run into the bathroom and close the door, cursing at the fact that there's no lock on the bathroom. I lean against the door to prevent him from coming in.

"Anastasia, open the door, baby. I know you're mad at me, but you need to eat so you can get better."

"I don't want anything from you," I manage to say.

"Open the damn door, woman, before you piss me off. We need to talk, but you need to be well before we do, but I did not invite Bambi to Canlis last night. It was just a coincidence. In fact, I told her you were meeting me there that night." Was it also a coincidence that she was hugging and kissing you? That's what I want to say but my throat won't let me.

"Don't want to talk," is what I manage to squeak out instead.

I hear him turn the knob and push the door open. My weight against the door is no match for him. I'm pushed to the side and he walks in. He starts to walk towards me, and I grab a can of my shaving cream and hold it in front of him like it's some sort of protection. He rolls his eyes but continues his approach. When he gets close, I squirt shaving cream all over his face.

"Fuck! You got some of that in my eye, Ana!" He grabs a towel and wipes his face. As quickly as possible, he grabs the can from me, throws me over his shoulder and puts me back in bed.

"You're really working my last damn nerve, woman." He pulls the covers over me and puts the tray back in front of me. "I love you, but right now I don't like you, and you don't like me. But you are going to eat this chicken soup and go back to bed or so help me God, I'm going to drown your ass in NyQuil. Eat, god damn it." He hands me the spoon and takes his seat by my bed.

My stomach betrays me by letting out a loud growl at the smell of the soup. I put a spoonful in my mouth and it tastes heavenly.

He comes back and sits on the edge of my bed, and takes the spoon from me. He spends the next few minutes feeding me until every bite is gone. Then he gives me a dose of Nyquil before laying me back down.

The soup was soothing to my throat while I was eating it, but now it feels like it's back on fire.

I'm laying comfortably on the pillow when I quickly sit up, remembering what he said before feeding me.

My eyes find his, but my throat hurts too much to talk. Fortunately for me, he knew what I was asking.

"So, it finally dawned on you that I said I loved you? I do, you know. And yes, I know I'm an idiot and I fucked it all up, but I'm begging you to listen to me and give me a chance. You're sick right now, and I want you lucid when we talk, but Anastasia Rose Steele, I'm madly in love with you and I'm going to do everything in my power to convince you of that."

 **A/N: This is my story from the Sisterhood challenge. I've decided to make this a two shot. The next and final chapter will be updated soon. Thank you for reading and reviewing.**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

 **The characters belong to ELJ. I'm just taking them for a spin.**

I don't know how many hours pass, but when I open my eyes, the room is completely dark. It's not quiet, though. I turn my head towards the loud snoring coming from the chair across from my bed and see him there.

He's sitting there, fully clothed but with his shoes and socks off. His legs are stretched out in front of him and his arms are crossed across his chest. It's too dark for me to see his facial features, which is just as well. I already know what he looks like. He looks like the damn snake that he is.

Why is his ass even still here? Ugh! I don't have time to deal with his bullshit right now. I stretch and take a deep breath, breathing deeply. Thankfully, my sore throat is damn near gone. I slip out of bed and go into my kitchen. My sore throat is gone, but my entire mouth is dry. I grab a bottle of water and drink the entire thing without any pain in my throat. I walk into the bathroom to empty my bladder. Once that's done, I take my temperature again and sigh in relief when I see that it's back to normal.

Whatever ailment I had seemed to have resolved itself. I blame Grey for this entire mess. If he hadn't messed with, set me up to see him and that bitch, I never would have gotten caught in the rain and got sick. This is all his fault!

But is it his fault that you agreed to meet up with him? Is it his fault you're a fool and fell for his lies again?

I shake those thoughts out of my head because it's much easier to blame him than myself.

I tiptoe back to the bedroom, grab a change of clothes and go to take a quick shower. The warm water is soothing to my skin and aching back. I lather my body with my body wash from Bath and Body works, and when I'm done with the shower, I take my time applying lotion on my skin and then slip on long pajama pants and a matching tank top.

As I'm approaching my room, I hear a particularly loud snore and I'm instantly annoyed. I go to the kitchen, grab my biggest cup and fill it with cold water before returning to my room.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I turn on the light and I through the entire contents of the cup in his face.

He immediately stands up, sputtering and wiping the water from his face. I can't help myself. I start to laugh hysterically, clutching my sides.

"What is your fucking problem?" He growls. I'm still laughing when he takes off his wet shirt and uses it to wipe his face. I don't know what I thought would happen after throwing the water at him, but the idea of him taking off his shirt and showing me his muscular upper body never entered my mind. I instinctively swallow and subconsciously lick my lips.

He catches me and gives me a smug smile before winking at me. I turn my back on him while he searches his bag for another shirt.

"You can leave now. I'm not sick anymore."

"Is that all you have to say? I don't get a thank you for getting you a doctor, food and medicine?"

"No. I didn't ask you to stay and it's your fault I got sick," I tell him.

"I injected you with a virus? How exactly did I get you sick? You know what? Never mind. I'm glad you're better but I'm not leaving. I'm going to talk and you're going to listen." Before I can give a response, he approaches, wraps one are around my waist to keep me from walking away and places his other hand on my forehead. He then starts to feel my glands as I try to wiggle out of his arms.

"Looks like your fever broke. Your glands feel fine," he says as he lets me go.

"You're a doctor now?"

"Get back in the bed. You can continue to rest while I talk."

"I've been in bed for over twenty four hours now, and I don't want to hear whatever you're going to say. I asked you to leave."

"I told you I'm not leaving. We've wasted six months. That's enough time. Get in bed before I put you there myself." I continue to stand in front of him with my arms crossed, daring him to touch me. In a flash, he has me scooped up in his arms and gently lays me on the bed. He grabs the comforter and covers me with it. He then gets in the bed next to me. I know why he does this. My bed is against the wall and I'd have to climb over him to get out. He's blocked me in, but I won't admit defeat. I turn my back to him without a word.

"You can stare at the wall all you want as long as you listen," he says. I take the pillow from under my head and cover my head and ears with it. He chuckles before he snatches it from me and throws it across the room.

"Now you have no pillow, stubborn ass." I don't reply.

I hear him clear his throat before he starts talking.

"Anastasia, I deserve all of your anger and your lack of faith in me. I've let you down and I'm so sorry for that. Before I get into a long explanation, I want to tell you again that Bambi being at Canlis on Friday night was just a coincidence. She was there on a date with someone else and she came over to say hello. That's all. You just walked in at the worst possible moment. Second, I meant what I said last night. I'm so in love with you that I can't even see straight. Every fucking waking moment, all I do is think of you. I'm totally and utterly obsessed with you. I have been for years, and I suspect since that first night Mia brought you over for one of mom's parties. You affected me so much, I had to pretend you didn't exist that night. I don't even remember my date's name, but I remember that little red cocktail dress you were wearing. It had a bow on the side and I wanted nothing more than to take that dress off of your body and kiss every inch of it. I love you, Ana. I've fought with my feelings, even convinced myself that what I felt for you was just a physical attraction, but that's all a lie. I'm done fighting with myself, but I know I've caused so much damage between us. I just want the chance to fix that. To make things right." My heart is beating against my chest at his words. He noticed me that first night and even remembers what I was wearing? I don't even remember what I was wearing that night. I don't respond. I wait for him to continue.

"I didn't see you often, but every time Mia would bring you around, I felt like someone punched me in the stomach. I wanted nothing more than to go to you and be around you, but I stopped myself. I became aloof. Distant and dismissive. I had to pretend you didn't exist, but all I wanted to do was be close to you. I know you're probably thinking why I didn't just say something to you. And you want to know the answer, Ana?" I don't respond. He puts his hand on my bare shoulder, forcing his weight on me and causing me to turn around and face him.

"I didn't say anything because I was a fool. I was the biggest fool on the planet. I would just watch you interact with Mia from a distance. One time, Mia approached me while you were with her, and I looked into your eyes. It was just for two seconds, and for those two seconds, I lost myself. I was lost. Completely and utterly gone with just a look into those blue eyes. I got so scared of my feelings for you. I don't know if you remember that particular night, but I left soon after. I decided the best way to forget my feelings was to get into meaningless relationship after meaningless relationship. I didn't work, though. I never forgot about you. Not for a single minute. Do you know that I overheard Mia talking to you on the phone one night about you interest in SIP? That's what made me interested in buying them. I don't even know why I did that since I made it my life's mission to stay away from you, but it's almost like I didn't have a choice." He reaches over and gently strokes my hair. His gaze locks with mine as he moves his hand to my cheek, stroking it gently with the back of his hand.

"What you're saying doesn't make any sense, Christian. If you felt this way, why did you wait so long? And why did you treat me the way you did after you kissed me in your office?" I can't help but sound annoyed. If what he's saying is true, then I'm even more confused.

"Do you know that I saw you graduate? Yes, I went and watched with pride as you walked across that stage. I was going to approach you and pretend I was there to see someone else, but you left with your dad before I could approach you. Even though you were smiling that day, there was this sadness behind your eyes and I wanted to know why so I could fix it. Do you know that Andrea was never on medical leave? She went back to school to get an MBA, and I let her have the time off with pay during her last semester. The opportunity just presented itself and I used it to get you to fill in her for when your original job at SIP fell through. I wanted you close to me. I figured it would be in a professional capacity and that would be safe. I'd get to have you near me, but you'd still be off limits because you work for me. I'd get to learn everything about you. I thought if I did that, I would learn some about some flaw that would free me of these feelings, but it backfired. I fell more in love with you every fucking day. When you walked in that first day to fill in for Andrea, you were so nervous. I just wanted to kiss you, so you can relax. Over time, I learned how smart you are, and your strong work ethic. There was never a task that I gave you that you couldn't handle. I'd make you work late and you'd never complain. Part of that was selfish on my part because I just wanted to be around you, so I'd make you work until eight or later. I thought if I did that, you wouldn't have time for a social life and possibly meet someone. You never were upset by it and seemed to enjoy the work. Then I learned about all of your quirks, especially that damn lip biting. You love for all things lemon flavored. How you would put your hair up in a messy bun and hold it in place with two pens. The first time you did that, I wanted to pull the pens out and watch your beautiful hair cascade down your shoulders. I fought with myself so much that do. The urge to touch you was just too strong."

"If what you're saying is true, then I'm even more confused by your actions," I tell him. Is this man crazy or what?

"It doesn't make sense, Ana. I've learned that love is the most nonsensical thing in the world. When it was time for you to leave for Georgia, I was a desperate man. The last thing I wanted was for you to be out of my sight. I felt like that one week was going to be a lifetime. I had nightmares about you meeting some man in Savannah and deciding to stay there permanently. Those thoughts drove me nuts. When we were talking right before we kissed, something just took over me and I just had to feel you lips on mine. When I did, my entire world changed. I felt that kiss in my soul, Ana. If the phone didn't ring, I would have laid us on the couch and made love to you all night, and there would have been no way in hell you would have gone to Georgia without me. I decided then that I had to be with you, but you were going away and if I told you my feelings that night, I couldn't bear to let you go. So, I did what I thought was the unselfish thing and let you go visit your mother. I was going to tell you my feelings as soon as you got back, and I was going to ask you to be with me. To be my woman."

"And I would have said yes. That's what I kept thinking about the entire week that I was gone. What happened because when I got back you were kissing a slut named Bambi?" Just the thought of that made me want to get violent, but I kept my tempter in check.

"The Sunday after you left, I had brunch at the country club with my parents and siblings. An ex of mine was there and she came by the table to say hello. We had ended things on friendly terms, so it wasn't unusual that she would stop by. I don't know if she was trying to be funny or if she was masking her hurt feelings, but she made an off hand comment about how my relationships take less time than it does for a gallon of milk to expire, and how I was out the door before I can catch feelings. She said that I must find feelings as appealing as chicken pox or the flu. Everyone laughed and when my ex left, my entire family all nodded and said how right she was. Mia said how she would hate to be in a relationship with someone like me, and what I offered was never even a real relationship. I tried to defend myself by saying that I'm always honest and how I can't possibly hurt anyone after just a few weeks. Mia snorted and said I was blind because I've broken many hearts and I was just never cared to see it. It was all said in fun and jest, and I pretended that it didn't bother me, but it did."

"I still don't understand. Are you saying that what that woman said caused you to change your mind about me?"

"What she said bothered me. I pretended like it was nothing, but I spent the rest of my time with my family thinking about it. When I got home, I looked back on my life and realized what she said was true. Thirty days was it because it wasn't enough time for anyone to have really deep feelings for anyone, or so I thought. That's all I had ever offered anyone, and you deserved more. What if my idea of giving you more was giving sixty or ninety days? And after that I left you a broken mess? I didn't want to do that to you, and I didn't trust myself not to."

"Wow. Just wow. How arrogant. Did it ever occur to you that _I_ would be the one leaving _you_ a broken mess?"

"And that's exactly what you did," he tells me.

"What? How can you say that to me? You're the one who changed your mind about us, not me." Suddenly I'm upset and I try to pull out of his grasp. He's unfazed and manages to keep me still with just one arm around me.

"Well, you did but it was because of my own actions. I own everything that I did, Ana. Please, let me finish." I calm down and wait for him to continue speaking.

"I spent all of Sunday and Monday thinking about it. Don't be mad at me, but I had someone watching you in Savannah. I just wanted to make sure you were safe, but I got updates on you and the occasional picture. You were having a great time. You were so carefree and happy. There's one picture of you at the beach with your mom. You have your sunglasses resting on top of your head as you're looking towards the ocean. Your face is so beautiful. It's as if you didn't have a care in the world, and I felt that if I got involved with you, I would ruin the girl in that picture. I didn't think I had anything other than material things to offer a woman. I've had a good life, but when it came to intimate relationships, I felt empty inside. The girl I was looking at in the picture deserved more than I thought I could give her, so I made the biggest mistake of my life, Ana. I convinced myself that it was only one kiss and your feelings wouldn't be hurt. I convinced myself that I was doing the right thing for you. That even if you were a little upset, you wouldn't be hurt and that you'd come to agree that us going just beyond a kiss would have been a mistake."

I take a minute to think about what he said to me. As the words sink in, I become even more upset.

"Please let me go. I need to get out of this bed," I say as calmly as possible. He doesn't' respond or loosen his grip.

"It's still dark outside and I'm wearing pajamas. I'm not leaving, but I need to move away from you. I thought I couldn't be any more upset with you, but you just proved me wrong." He runs his free hand through his hair and clears his throat.

"I'm trying to explain, Ana."

"Explain how you take one comment, blow it out of proportion and decide for me who is right for me? What the hell kind of twisted logic is that? Are you telling me you called Bambi because you were scared of hurting me? What the hell do you think I felt when I walked in on you kissing her in your office? That should have been me you were kissing!" I don't give him a chance to respond. I shove him just enough for him to loosen his grip on me. I jump out of his grasp and off the bed. I'm so angry that I slam my bedroom door as I leave it to go into the kitchen. I really want to throw something, but I won't give him the satisfaction. Instead, I grab a bottle of water and drink it.

I hear his footsteps approaching. I turn towards the window, giving him my back. He's standing so close to me, I'm sure he can hear my heart beating. He gently puts one hand on my shoulder.

"I did. I called her. I didn't give a shit about her, but I needed a distraction from you. I told you I had convinced myself that our kiss was no big deal to you, and that you'd agree with me that getting involved was a mistake. I didn't mean for you to see us that day. She just showed up unannounced a few minutes before you walked in."

"Bullshit! You announced she was your girlfriend, for fucks sakes. I think a part of you wanted to hurt me." I try to shrug from his touch, but his hand doesn't budge.

"I never wanted to hurt you. I was trying to save you from getting hurt. I know how stupid and foolish I was. I made a horrible mistake, and I'm asking you to forgive me. I'm asking you to give me a chance to be the man for you. To be the man in your life."

"The man in my life? The one who makes unilateral decisions? The one who thinks he knows what's best for me? Tell me, Christian, did you ever really consider my feelings in all of this? Did you ever think that maybe that I was already in too deep to just shrug it off as a mistake? The feelings that I had for you that night were just as strong as yours, and you don't get to decide for me what's best." I turn around to face him so he can see the anger in my face.

"I noticed you that first time we met too. You were in a gray suit, white shirt with the top two buttons undone, and no tie. You were gorgeous. I watched you. Each time I saw you, I watched you, but you were always with someone and always out of my reach. And when I started to work for you, those feelings only got stronger. As gruff as you are to most people, you're also the kindest, most generous person I've ever met in my life. But I never crossed the line. I worked for you. I was your sister's friend. But, you came on to _me_. _You_ kissed _me_ , not the other way around. You told me you wanted to talk about us, leading me to believe that you wanted to be with me. I spent the entire week thinking about you and fooling myself into thinking how we were finally going to be a couple. Do you know that in my mind I was going to be your date at that launch party? You were going to walk into that ballroom with me on your arm. The one you took Bambi to? If your goal was to spare me from hurt, then you really fucked that up. I've felt nothing but hurt since the minute I walked into your office and saw you in the arms of someone else, so spare me your excuses and your good intentions." By the time I finish my speech, I'm yelling. I refuse to start to cry in front of this man, so I channel all that pain into anger.

"I made a fucking mistake, Ana! One I will regret for the rest of my life! I know how stupid my excuses sound. Yes, I was afraid of hurting you, but I was also afraid of being with you. I knew that I wouldn't be able to control my feelings for you. I'd be leaving myself open to you. You'd be able to see right through me, and I was afraid of that. What if you didn't like what you saw? What if after being with me, I fell more in love with you every minute only for you to realize I wasn't worth it? I didn't want to risk that. Look at me, Ana!" He yells the last but and I instinctively look up to meet his eyes.

"I was afraid, dammit. I never had those feelings before and they scared the shit out of me, ok? I did the only thing I could do. I sabotaged it. I sabotaged us before we could even be anything, and I've regretted it since. God, Ana. That look in your eyes when you walked in. I'd give away everything I own to go back in time and undo everything leading up to that look. That look of betrayal that I saw. All the hurt that I caused. I'm so sorry, Ana. I'm so fucking sorry." He pulls me into his arms and buries his head in my neck.

"I was afraid, too, but I was willing to try. I feel like such a fool because I was hopeful the entire week I was away. I just wanted to come back to you so we could talk. As scared as I was, I figured that it would be better to feel something for someone rather than being alone and afraid. I was open to being with you. I didn't care about your long line of thirty day girlfriends. I just wanted to be with you. I told myself I was different, and you'd fall for my charm. Looking back, I was either arrogant or naïve. Maybe both, but I got a good dose of reality when I opened your office door. I think it's too late for us, Christian." He removes his head from my neck and looks in my eyes.

"No, baby. It's not too late. We're both right here and I'm not giving up."

"Think about it. We had a chance six months ago and it didn't work out. We tried again Friday night and it didn't work out. Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something. Maybe there is someone else out there for you." He takes my hand and leads me to the couch.

"It wasn't the universe. Six months ago, it was me being an idiot. Friday night was just an awful coincidence. And there is no one else out there for me. Have you had other relationships, Ana?" He asks.

"Just one in high school, and a bunch of first dates that led to nowhere," I tell him.

"And I've had a bunch of relationships with expiration dates. Do you know why that is? Do you know why it never worked out with anybody else for either of us?" I shake my head and shrug my shoulders.

"Because we were made for each other. You were made for me, and I was made for you. Things would have never worked out with Bambi or anyone else because they are not you. You're the one. You. I just want you, and not for thirty days. No amount of time will ever be enough. Please, don't give up on us because I made some mistakes." He takes my face and holds it with both hands.

"Please," he says again while holding my gaze.

"You hurt me," I say to him.

"I did."

"You lied to me and led me on."

"I never lied, but I did lead you on."

"I don't know if I can trust you."

"Let me earn your trust. I'll never, ever lie to you. I'll never lead you on. I'll never make unilateral decisions. Just give me a chance."

"Why should I do that?"

"Because in all the time we've known each other, you've never had a relationship either. You haven't had a date since that bald asshole. You know why I think that is? I think that's because you love me too." My heart beats widely in my chest. I did love him. Maybe I always have, but there's no way I'm admitting it now. I break the gaze and look away from him. He turns my face back to his.

"How do I know you won't get scared and sabotage things again?"

"Because I know what it's like to be without you. There is nothing scarier than not having you in my life. I'll never push you away again. I'm asking you, Ana, to love me anyways. Just love me despite my fuck ups. Can you do that?"

"I never said that I loved you to begin with."

"Do you?" He asks.

"That's none of your business," I say testily.

"Don't do that, Ana. Be mad at me. Be annoyed by me. Yell at me. But don't ever hide your love from me. I need you. I need you to love me." All air leaves my body and before I can respond, he's kissing me. He continues to hold my face to keep in place as his warm lips touch mine. The kiss is gentle but full of desperation. Instead of pushing him away, I give in to his lips. I open my mouth so I can taste him fully.

I soon turn desperate for him, kissing him with everything in me. All the angst and longing that I've had for the past six months, I pour into that kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself closer to him. He lifts me from the couch and puts me on his lap. I hear myself moan as I straddle him without breaking the kiss. My hands find their way into his hair, eliciting a moan from him.

He bites my lip gently before delving his tongue back in my mouth. His hands start to roam my back, kneading the flesh there before they find their way onto my ass. He squeezed both cheeks with his large hands. The pressure forces me to grind into him, feeling his arousal underneath me. I grind again and he moans into my mouth.

Just like our first kiss, we're interrupted by the damn phone. I jump out of his lap and try to calm my racing heart.

"Sorry. I had set the alarm so I could check your temperature and give you more medicine, but I guess you don't need that anymore." I hear him get off the couch and approach me. He stands behind me and places both hands on my shoulders before kissing my neck gently.

"Can we try again, Ana? Will you give being with me a try?" He tries to sound calm, but I can hear the desperation in his voice. "If you say no, I'm not going to give up. I'm going to be in your face every day until you realize that I'm the man for you."

I close my eyes and lean my body into his. His arms go around my waist and he kisses the other side of my neck this time. Since I can't think straight with his hands and lips on me, I move out of his hold and turn around to face him.

He must sense I'm about to speak because he just stands there, looking at me. He clears his throat repeatedly, his telltale sign of being nervous.

"I've had these feelings for you for so long, Christian. They've just continued to build and grow over time. Maybe you're right. Maybe I've never really given anyone a chance because of you. These past few months have been really difficult for me because just when I thought I had you, I lost you. I've been dead inside since then, and I don't want to be like that anymore. I want to feel something, and I've only ever felt truly alive with you. Even before the kiss, those months working side by side with you were the best of my life. And then that kiss happened, and it awakened parts in me I didn't even know I had. So, yes. I want to be with you, too. I'm willing to try, but if for some reason things still don't work out-" He stops me before I can finish speaking by covering my mouth with his. We stand there in front of my window in my tiny living room, kissing for an unknown amount of time.

"There's no going back, Ana. There's no possibility of us not working out. We're it for each other. You're my love. And I sense you're not ready to say you love me yet, so I can wait until you are ready." He kisses me again, wrapping both arms around my body and pulling me to him fully. I can feel how much he wants me, and when he covers my ass with his hands and pushes me into his erection, I break the kiss.

"I want you, Christian, but I want to take things slow. I want you to show me that you want to be with me. I'm not talking about expensive gifts. I've seen you give extravagant gifts only to walk away after a month. I just want you. I want your time. I'm not ready to jump into bed with you yet. I want to date you first, ok?" He rests his forehead on mine and nods.

"Whatever you want, baby. I'm ready to make love to you, but we will go at your pace. Whatever you want, but know I'm not going anywhere."

"I like the sound of that," I tell him. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, baby. You have no idea. None. All these months apart have been torture." We stand there in each other's arms, our foreheads touching and just holding each other.

"And if I ever see Bambi again, I'm going to hurt her and you. Got it?"

"I'll never talk to her again, Ana. It's over between us. I ended it the night of the launch party, and nothing beyond a kiss ever happened between us." I'm relieved to hear that.

"Oh, I know you're never going to talk to her again. But what I'm saying is that if I ever see her again, even if you're not around, I'm going to kick her ass and then when I get my hands on you, I'm going to kick yours."

"That's not exactly fair, Ana, but – "

"Don't talk to me about fair, Christian Grey." He raises his hands in surrender.

"Fine. Go ahead and kick her ass. When I bail you out of jail for assault, you can kick mine. Deal?" I let out a chuckle at that, and he laughs too.

"Christian?"

"Yes, baby?" I'll never admit to him how much I love it when he calls me that.

"I'm tired."

"Let's get you back in bed." He scoops me up bridal style and carries me back to the bedroom. Instead of going back to the chair, he slides in next to me. I lay my head on his chest and the sound of his heartbeat lulls me back to sleep.

* * *

It's a beautiful fall morning as we walk from my apartment to a local breakfast place. We're both dressed casually in jeans and sweaters as we walk together with our fingers intertwined. Every few minutes, he'd stop walking, pull me into his arms and just kiss me. Because of that, it took us a bit longer to get to the restaurant.

We're seated immediately. Soon we've placed our orders. We sip coffee in silence as we give each other stolen glances.

"Ana, remember when I said that you didn't have to tell me how you feel about me and that I'd wait until you're ready to say those words?"

"Yup. You only said them a few hours ago, silly," I say with a smile. He reaches for my hand across the table and kisses my knuckles.

"Well, I thought I'd be able to wait, but I can't wait. I need to know now. I'm willing to wait to make love to you, but I need to hear how you feel about me. I already know, but I need to hear it from you." I raise my eyebrows at him.

"You already know? What do you think you know?"

"Ana, I know you love me, but it's killing me that you haven't said it yet."

"You know I love you? Arrogant much?"

"I love you, Ana," he says, looking at me in the eye, challenging me. He's giving me that smug smile, but I know behind it he is very vulnerable.

"I love you too, Christian." He lets out a huge sigh of relief and kisses my hand again, before going back to his coffee.

"I knew it," he says smugly.

* * *

 **6 weeks later – Thanksgiving night**

We finally say goodbye to my dad and make our way back to Christian's SUV. This Thanksgiving has been the busiest of my life. The Greys eat pretty early and we were out of Christian's parent's house by three. We arrived in Montesano about ninety minutes later to join my dad and his guests for dessert and more football.

Every year one of dad's old army buddies takes turns hosting Thanksgiving dinner. This year it was Ray's turn so there was no way I could miss it. I spent all day with him on Wednesday helping him prep, only to turn around and go back to Seattle that night so I could have dinner with my boyfriend and his family.

My boyfriend.

My boyfriend of six weeks.

My boyfriend of forty three days.

My boyfriend who is the most attentive, loving, affectionate, handsome, protective, sweet, wonderful boyfriend a girl could dream about.

My boyfriend who plans picnic lunches for us in his office.

My boyfriend who has now made three attempts of cooking me dinner. All of these attempts ended up in disaster.

My boyfriend who will have me sit next to him in front of the piano as he plays me love song after love song.

My boyfriend who tells me he loves me multiple times a day.

My boyfriend who I've still not had sex with.

But that's all going to change tonight.

I know it's driving him crazy. Unless he's away on a business trip, we've spent every night together. We eat dinner together, watch movies, talk or just sit together in silence. Sometimes I'll just be in his apartment while he works. He wants me with him all the time. All the time. And I couldn't be happier.

Soon we'll spend most days together too because Sapphire Publishing will officially be Grey Publishing in the new year, and moving to the eighth floor of GEH. My crazy boyfriend wanted to put my desk in his office, but I made him see how ridiculous that would be.

"It was nice meeting your dad, baby. I was nervous, but he's a great guy," he says to me while he drives us back to Escala. All the while our fingers are intertwined. Did I mention he was romantic?

Dad has way too many people at his house, so I offered to give up my old bedroom. We planned on getting a hotel for the night, but Mr. Fancy Pants didn't like any of the options in Montesano. He couldn't get past the fact that there was no Ritz Carlton there.

"He's the best," I say while I lift his hand to my mouth and kiss it. He looks my way and gives me his special smile.

"I love you," I say to him. I can feel myself blush. I roll my eye at myself. It's not like I don't tell the man I love him every day, but he gives me butterflies.

"I love you more," he says back to me. Swoon.

We're quiet the rest of the hour and a half drive back to Seattle. We're both tired when we get back and go directly to his massive bedroom. He goes straight into his closet to change and I dash into the bathroom so I can get ready for him.

When I emerge, he's laying on top of the bed in nothing but his boxers, checking his phone. I clear my throat and he looks at me.

He drops the phone and throws his head back and groans.

"Baby, do you have a turtleneck or something else to sleep in? You're killing me here, Ana. I've been patient, baby, but it's getting harder every day." And harder it is. I can see it has already stiffened in those boxers.

I know how tough these past six weeks have been for him. I see the evidence of his desire for me every morning. I even walked in on him taking care of himself one morning in the shower. He didn't see me as I quickly walked out of the bathroom.

I walk slowly to him in the short, red nightie. It barely touches my thighs, and I know it hardly covers my ass. It has a demi cup top with black lace. The rest of it hugs my body, showing off my curves.

"I can see how hard it is, Mr. Grey," I say to him as I crawl towards him on the bed. I lay my hand on top of his hard dick as I look at him in the eye. "I'm ready, Christian. I don't want to wait anymore."

Before the words are out of my mouth, he reaches for me, throws me on my back and climbs on top of me. He kisses me deeply on the mouth, bruising my lips. He leaves my lips long enough to rain wet kisses on my neck, before capturing my mouth again.

"Thank god, Ana. I've been dying here. Sleeping next to you at night has been both pleasure and torture. Heaven and hell. I'm going to apologize now because the first time is going to be quick. I promise to slow it down and explore every inch of you the second time," he says huskily against my mouth. To torture him some more, I grind into his erection and he groans.

"We've got all night, Christian. And all day tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. And I'm on the pill," I say huskily before kissing him again. He moans into my mouth as his hand cups one of my breasts.

"I have to make sure you come first because when I get in you, I won't be able to control myself." He scrolls down my body and lifts the hem of my nightie, exposing my bare pussy. He inhales sharply.

"God damn," he says before he spreads my legs and strokes my wet flesh with his fingers. I moan at the sensation. He sticks a finger inside of me and when he removes it, he slowly licks the finger.

"Mhmmm. You taste even better than I've imagined." She spreads my legs even wider as he begins to feast on me.

* * *

 **THE NEXT MORNING**

Christian rolls off of me, leaving us both panting for breath.

"God, why did I make us wait so long?" I pant.

"Because you like to torture me," he says as he pulls be against his body. I rest my head on his chest and listen to his rapid heart beat.

"I do not," I say as I swat his chest.

"I didn't mind the wait, Ana. It was hard because I've wanted you for so long, but if this was a test to prove that I wasn't going anywhere or to make sure this isn't just a thirty day thing, I understand. I would have waited as long as you wanted, but thank you for putting me out of my misery because I've been horny for you for so long."

"I've wanted you for a long time too. I don't know why I made us wait. I just wanted both of us to be sure, but now that I've had you, I'm kicking myself for making us take so long to get here."

"And I'm not going anywhere, Ana. This is not a fling. This is real, baby. I love you so fucking much." I feel tears pool in my eyes before I reach over and kiss him on the lips.

"I love _you_ so fucking much more."

* * *

 **10 MONTHS LATER**

He rolls his eyes at me. I huff, cross my arms and look away from him as we sit in the private waiting room, waiting for his plane to be ready for us to board.

"You act like it's my fault," he says.

"Well it certainly wasn't my fault, was it?" I huff again, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"How is it my fault that she was in the lobby of the same hotel we were staying in? Did I invite her? Do I own the fucking hotel?" He asks indignantly.

"You own half of fucking Seattle. Maybe you do own the hotel and I just don't know it." I know how ridiculous that sounds.

"Well, to be clear, Anastasia, I don't own the Ritz Carlton so get over it!"

"Get over it?"

"Yes! Get over it! I don't know why you're acting this way over a relationship that lasted two weeks and never even went beyond kissing. It meant nothing so get the fuck over it!" He practically yells the last part.

"Thank you for your sensitivity. I'll remember that next time you see me talking to Charlie. Remember how you threatened to fire him after you kicked his ass the last time he had the nerve to say good morning to me? That relationship wasn't even a relationship. I never called him my boyfriend like you did to Bambi the day I walked in on you two making out in your office," I argue back. Arguing with this man is the absolute last thing I expected to be doing today of all days.

"We were not making out, woman! Why must you act like this every time we see her, or whenever she's mentioned? It meant nothing! Not a god damn thing! I don't understand it because we've run into other women I've dated, and you don't act like this. What gives? I'm sick of this shit, Ana!"

"Don't act so innocent! You want to know what my problem is? My problem is that you chose her over me! I came back from Georgia expecting you to be mine, but you were hers! That's my problem, Christian!" I yell back at him.

"Excuse me? What the hell did you just say? Did you just accuse me of choosing another woman over you?"

"I sure did!"

"That's the most nonsensical thing I've ever heard. What the hell did we just do not sixteen hours ago?" I cross my arms and refuse to answer.

"No smart ass response now, huh? Of course not because not sixteen hours ago we pledged to love, honor and cherish each other for as long as we both shall live in front of our friends, family and God. Remember that? I was the one in the tux waiting for you at the altar. You were the beautiful one in the gorgeous white dress walking towards me on Ray's arm crying her eyes out because she was so overcome with emotion. That was you, right? I know for sure it wasn't fucking Bambi. Now, enough of this nonsense. I love you. I've only ever loved you. I will only ever love you. For as long as we both shall live. I don't just love you, baby. I crave you. I need you to like I need my next breath." He grabs my left hand, kisses my wedding ring and puts my hand on over his heart. "This heart only beats for you. I love you, and I love every word that comes out your mouth, but right now I'm going to have to tell you to shut up."

"Excuse me?" I say to him. "Did you just tell me to shut up?" We've argued before, but he's never told me to shut up.

"Yes, shut up and kiss your husband. Your husband. Yours and only yours." Before I know it, he's grabbed, picked me up and put me on his lap, kissing me with a fierce possessiveness. This is the type of kiss he gave me that day we argued because Charlie said good morning to me in the lobby. This is how he kisses me when another man checks me out or smiles at me. To prove a point, I kiss him back with the same amount of possessiveness. I match him bruise lips for bruised lips. I slide my hands in his hair and pull as hard as I can, eliciting a groan from my husband.

"Don't you ever accuse me of choosing anyone else over you again. Do you hear me, Mrs. Grey?" He's now using his bossy tone. I look down and pretend to look contrite.

"Yes, Mr. Grey. I'm sorry. She was the last person I was expecting to see after our wedding night and I lost my mind over it because the thought of you with anyone else drives me crazy, but I know I'm the only woman you love, just like you know you're the only man I love. Forgive me, please." I grab his left hand, kiss his wedding band and place his hand over my heart. "This heart only beats for you, husband."

"Well, that's more like it. Come here, my little jealous bride." He pulls me to him, hugging me against his chest. He just holds me to him, while stroking my hair.

"God, I love you so fucking much. Do you know that, baby? I love you so fucking much, I think I'm going to go insane. I just want to consume you," he confesses while his gray eyes penetrate mine.

"I love you even more," I say to him.

"Not fucking possible," he says before he grabs the back of my neck and pushes me towards him. I take his lips and kiss him slowly and thoroughly.

"Mr. Grey, Mrs. Grey, the plane is now ready for you to board," Taylor informs us as he walks into the waiting room.

My husband stands up with me in his arms and sets me down.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" I ask him.

"You'll find out when we get on the plane. Now, it's time for our honeymoon and our happily ever after, Mrs. Grey. Are you ready?"

"I've been ready since the moment I laid eyes on you."

THE END

 **Just a quick two chapter story. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. Until laters.**


End file.
